Monday, May 23, 2016

We've been together for ten years. Actually, I don't remember, but ten years sounds about right; and if this cleanser were a human being, I would be in trouble for not remembering. In any case, this, the Simple Refreshing Facial Wash Gel would be the longest-serving[?] skincare in the history of my caring for my skin.

One persistent myth about acne sufferers is that we don't 'take care' of our skin, or that we don't clean our face enough. When that happens, I would be going through in my head how diligently... no, religiously I wash my face twice a day and make a point to remove makeup as soon as possible because of the oil and clogged pores.

I don't suffer from acne anymore, but the Simple wash gel came when I was still struggling and, after going through a lot of products, decided that ‘skincare’ alone was not going to ‘cure’ acne. I wanted a mild cleanser that could help calm, or rather, would not upset my skin when my skin was already pretty upset.

I Simply Like

I like it for its mildness; it doesn’t leave my skin bone dry and I can get away without a moisturiser, which I don't think is recommended, because stripping your skin of its natural oil and then skipping moisturiser will make your skin produce more oil to compensate for its dryness.

Also, I find it an effective makeup remover [providing the makeup is not too heavy] and I only need to wash once or twice depending on how stubborn the makeup is. And, I don't have a separate eye makeup remover [I know! I should be punished!].

Here's my hand... Oh, and there's the gel in the middle... ish

The cleanser comes in a transparent gel and lathers up to a milky consistency with minimal foam.

How-to No Residue

One drawback of this otherwise great cleanser is that, if the cleansing is not done properly you might be left with a residue. Luckily, I've found a solution.

Here’s what I do:

- Have a dot ready on the palm of your hand.

- Wet your face.

- Mix a few drops of water with the cleanser and lather.

- Apply the cleanser and massage your face.

[These next steps are important, otherwise the cleanser won't clean off well].

- Rinse once and massage or rub your skin gently, particularly around areas that are clogged.

- Rinse and continue to massage.

- I usually repeat the rinse-and-massage step about five times, and then rinse till the cleanser is gone.
The massaging in effect is a gentle exfoliation to my clogged pores, but don't overdo it or you'll be left with an angry skin.

As stated above, I find the cleanser indeed very gentle, and I also use it to wash my hands prior to putting in my contacts because I find my body wash, Johnson's Baby Bath and sometimes I use Dove Sensitive Skin, have the tendency to irritate my eyes.

Thursday, May 5, 2016

I was expecting a box, they sent me a plastic bag; disappointed my invisible cat.

So, one of the many things I did towards the end of last year was to buy something online. That in itself is not at all significant; the thing is, it was the first time I bought a clothing item online. Buying clothes online is not the same as, say, buying skincare online [I can hear someone saying ‘duh!’] for one glaring reason - size. Shopping online was not new to me and my biggest purchase was from Victoria's Secret; and for the lingerie company that it is, it's quite an irony that I only bought lotions from them. But it's not surprising, in my opinion, that one is even more impulsive in buying skincare instead of clothes; at least to me I'm less likely to return a skincare in a different scent than ordered, than if I had bought a clothing item in the wrong size. Besides, you can buy skincare that you're already familiar with; whereas with clothes they don't make the same style with the same fabric for years and years, and even then the size within the same brand can vary.

A Few Online Stores I Considered

Of course ASOS wasn't the only one on my list. Some other online stores I considered were Shopbop, Anthropologie, Free People, Urban Outfitters and Nasty Gal; all of which have their own forte [and of course prior to these bigger online stores, I almost bought from a smaller one-person store]. I live a long, long way away from these stores and the first thing in my mind was the shipping rate [even after numbing it with drool-worthy beautiful stuff]. I almost bought from one store only to find out that the shipping was $60, which was more than double the price of the product itself - I didn't think it was worth it.

And the Winner Goes to… Free Shipping!

Shopbop and Free People both offer free international shipping but requiring $100 and $150 of minimum purchase respectively. As a first time buyer I was not prepared to invest in that much money in something I might not like.

ASOS free shipping minimum is just £20. That is way low than any of the stores above; which means you can buy in smaller batches and not have to worry about duties and taxes. On top of that - and this might work with or against you - my package arrived without any need of a signature. Now, this might not be what you’d want if you’re worried about missing packages. But I almost have never had any missing packages, but I do get a lot of packages that I have to retrieve at the post office; and some of them were 'attempted' delivery when there were people at home! The postman simply rings once or twice and then leave without waiting, not even five minutes, for us to open the door. That’s why I like packages that don’t require signatures.

What I Hope ASOS Can Improve On

What I think is missing from ASOS is a buyers' review section, which I think Free People is good at. The #asseenonme section is not helping in any way [not for me anyway] in my actual shopping experience; remember I'm not browsing for inspiration or virtual window shopping. And ASOS, facts without context isn’t helping either; the "our model wears size small" on the product page does not give me any clue how small is ‘small’. Nasty Gal has taken this a step further by including their model’s measurements and a few other stuff that are just fun but unnecessary; but the point is there’s context, and I can guesstimate how small is 'small'. With ASOS, I had to search for the model’s measurements myself [who knew there was an online forum dedicated to identifying, and a database of, ASOS models - you're welcome].

I feel like I’ve been bitten by the online shopping bug and might be brave enough to buy from other stores one day. Have you bought something from ASOS? What do you think of shopping online?